Nation-Building and Secularisation: Experiences of Non-Western Societies

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Abstract

For a long time, the Western model of modernity was regarded as the single paradigm, leading to the assumption that the Western nation-state represented the only “authentic” or “correct” form of nationhood. Within this framework, atheism – or more precisely, atheisation, often erroneously conflated with secularisation – was deemed essential to nation-building. However, the non-reducibility of secularism to its Western version, and the consequent multiplicity of secularisms, forms a crucial aspect of the broader phenomenon of multiple modernities. Secularity, understood as a distinctive form of religiosity that entails tolerance towards the “other” and the separation of secular (including political) and religious spheres within society, constitutes an integral element of modernity as a global historical epoch. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, the persistence of religious sentiment within mass consciousness does not obstruct nation-building. Moreover, the decline of religiosity is not a universal feature but rather a specifically Western characteristic of the nation-building process.

About the authors

D. М. Bondarenko

Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: dmitrimb@mail.ru
Moscow, Russia

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